An Unconventional Proposal
by EternalAmaterasu
Summary: Edward seeks advice on a certain topic. Roy shows him how it's done. And naturally, Riza is dragged into it.


**This is a re-upload from my other account which I am unfortunately no longer able to use. I apologize to everyone who reviewed/favorited this story last time, would really appreciate it if you could do so again if its not too much trouble. God bless you guys!**

**Just making it clear, italic sentences are character thoughts. And if you wonder why Falman isn't here, in the end of the manga/Brotherhood he remained in the north.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>Edward Elric bit the inside of his cheek.<p>

_"Yes,_ Fullmetal?" the Fuhrer asked, all but his voice ignoring the man as he drew the next letter from the pile and scribbled his signature.

"I, uh…" his guest began, then hesitated, inwardly cringing at the ego damage he was going to receive for this. "Well… I need your help."

Fuhrer Mustang put down his pen and looked up, surprise etching his features.

And his surprise was mirrored by his subordinates who also ceased what they were doing, turning their attention on the two men at either side of the front desk. Even Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye, for whom distractions were non-existent. Though in her case, only for a moment.

Edward Elric _never_ asked Roy Mustang for help, spare during life-threatening situations. Though no lives seemed to be in danger today – except perhaps a very sleep-deprived Kain Feury's (he was the only one the Fuhrer could ever so charmingly twist to bend to his will after all... Curse his co-workers).

Mustang blinked at the blonde alchemist, eyes watery from the long focus on script. "This is a surprise," he said a little suspiciously. "I didn't assume you'd visit for something urgent."

Of course the need for help _had_ to be urgent, knowing who was asking.

"Yeah, well, it's not _that_ urgent really," Ed started. "It's just…" He pulled a small black box out of his cloak pocket and thrust it towards Mustang, a blush creeping on his face.

Feury fell off his chair. Everyone knew the sort of things boxes like _those_ held.

Mustang cocked an eyebrow, then smirked, but the Elric held his composure.

"Winry and I are… Well, I've been wanting to propose for a while now, and don't really know what to say," he said as Mustang peeked at the ring. "I have all the arrangements and stuff planned out already, I just can't come up with the right _words._ And… I thought I'd ask you, since you… seem to know about this sort of stuff."

"He _does?"_ Havoc asked loudly, and Breda snickered.

Their commander shot them a disdainful look and they hurriedly turned back to their paperwork. He looked back up at his visitor. "Well well, Fullmetal, I see you've finally grown up."

Ed wasn't sure whether to take this as a compliment. He was 23 now, and it was true he had grown up in more ways than one. But he wasn't entirely sure Mustang was referring to _that._

And he was right.

"You've come to just the right man!" the Fuhrer exclaimed, his statement causing more snickering from across the room. "It's beyond me how Winry managed to fall for a confession like yours, but you won't be able to use equivalent exchange on this one."

Ed's face turned beet-red. Of course he couldn't resist _mocking_ him first.

But Mustang's men were too surprised at their Fuhrer's excitement to notice. The man had leapt out of his chair and was now standing with an arm around the Elric's shoulder, leaning down to his level – which wasn't much lower these days – to emphasize the fact that the latter had stumbled upon the privilege of receiving his most excellent advice.

"…in logistics, perhaps," he was saying, "but asking the woman you love for her hand in marriage is on a whole other level."

"A whole other level…?" Ed repeated.

Hawkeye shook her head from her corner, sighing inwardly. _There he goes again…_

"Yup," Mustang nodded. "Trust me, you say too much and they go running for the hills, and then you have the other end – avoiding extra effort is a rule of thumb, but no man gets away with half-assing a _proposal!"_

Feury glanced around at his co-workers. _Oh good,_ he thought to himself – their focus was intent on Mustang. He subtly pulled out the diary he kept in the pocket of his dress uniform for emergencies, and began taking notes.

"You sound like you're talking from experience, Fuhrer," Ed said with poorly hidden interest. "Have _you_ ever proposed to someone?"

Hawkeye's head snapped up from her paperwork, an unusual curiosity coming over her. Well, nobody else was doing their work at the moment. And besides, one couldn't deny the topic of the Fuhrer's love life was a little interesting...

Then again, did he even _have _one?

Mustang laughed and Ed flinched, the former man's voice too loud for their close proximity. "No, no, no! But you know, I've been to places, seen and heard things…"

A feeling of relief swept over the lieutenant colonel and a shocking - very inappropriate for their strictly _work-based_ relationship - thought danced across her mind. She shook it away immediately, looking back down at her paperwork. _It's been a long day._

10:30a.m. already.

"Now, according to my foster mother, all a woman truly dreams of seeing is a man on one knee in front of her saying four simple yet complexly binding words. But we're well above that, right? We saved Amestris from a foe with _godly powers_ for goodness' sake! It's not going to take that much to muster up something decent..."

Breda snorted. _Trust him to put 'we' in that sentence._ They all knew Edward was the one who'd defeated the father of the homunculi.

"...and we don't want you sounding too cliché here, that would be rather shameful for someone of your intelligence."

"So how do I do it then?" Ed asked, abandoning his poor act of feigning curiosity.

"Hm…" Mustang pondered for a moment. "Well you _are_ going to have to risk sounding a _little_ cliché if you want to be honest and tell her what's truly on your heart."

_...little... cliché..._ Fuery scribbled.

_Oh please,_ Havoc thought, taking notice of his subordinate's actions. Mustang was clearly bluffing at having any knowledge at all in this specific area of expertise. Heck, he _himself_ had probably had more girlfriends than Mustang. Not that that means anything _bad_ in his experience with woman of course, just to clear things up – _he_ couldn't help that he was so attractive.

"…and telling her that she means the entire world to you is a pretty good place to start."

"Hm, yeah, that's true... But that's the problem. How do I _tell_ her that?"

Havoc did have to admit though, he was a little curious to hear his superior's reply.

Mustang thought deeply for a moment, his eyes drifting around the room, until they landed on an oblivious lieutenant colonel writing away at her paperwork. A devilish grin danced across his face.

"Alright, Fullmetal, how about this? I'll give you a first-hand example of how it's done."

This statement drew the full attention of his team, and even caused Feury to cease his note-taking. But Hawkeye had chosen a few moments ago to block out her commander's rambling, and so it caught her by surprise to hear him calling her rank.

"Lieutenant Colonel, would you mind giving us a hand?"

She looked up uncertainly. "Sir…?"

"What do you say we give Fullmetal a little demonstration?"

"A demonstration, sir?" Hawkeye repeated in confusion, then remembering the topic of Ed's visit and putting the pieces together in her incredibly quick-witted mind, dropped her pen in shock. "I- I'm sorry sir, but I'm not really that good at role play," she lied.

"Aaaaaaw, come now!" Mustang exclaimed. "We've all seen your most brilliant acting. No need for modesty."

_Damn him._ They'd been on too many undercover operations for her to have gotten off with that one.

"But I…"

"You won't even have to do anything besides sit at that table," said Mustang.

"Can't you have someone else do it, sir? Lieutenant Havoc is the one who's best at this sort of thing-"

"Oh no," Havoc teased, catching on. "It wouldn't be right if _I _was the one."

"Yeah, you're the only _lady_ in the room," Breda smirked, putting extra emphasis on the word 'lady' to work her up further, causing her to blush.

"Pleeeease?" Mustang whined childishly. "How about I make you a deal? I'll spend the next three months doing _all_ my paperwork - in _advance -_ and you can take the next week off."

"That's a pretty good deal, lieutenant colonel," said Havoc. "Is it too late to reconsider, Fuhrer? I wouldn't make that bad a bride!"

Hawkeye wanted to shoot him.

"And I'll pay for whatever you do and wherever you go for the entire week," the Fuhrer added at the look on her face, ignoring Havoc.

She inwardly groaned. "So I just have to sit at the table, sir?"

"Yup," Mustang grinned.

"And this doesn't involve me doing or saying _anything?"_

He shook his head.

"That's all?"

"That's all. And I'll write your form for permission to take leave straight after."

Hawkeye hesitantly complied, doing her best to ignore the smug expressions of her co-workers as Mustang pocketed the ring box and stepped towards her. He shifted her pile of documents closer to Fuery's corner of the table, then winked at Ed.

"Watch and learn."

"Think we should go get a camera?" Breda whispered to Havoc who shook his head.

"Wouldn't want to miss it."

Mustang gently gripped Hawkeye by the shoulders and spun her round in her chair so that she was forced to face him, causing her blush to deepen. Then he knelt down on one knee in front of her.

She expected him to take the ring box out of his pocket but he instead took her hand in both of his own.

Her heart fluttered. _This_ wasn't in the deal!

But a part of her couldn't help thinking how perfectly fitting it felt to have his warm hands enclosed around hers... She tried to ignore the sudden heat emanating her space.

_It's been a _really_ long day..._

A smile played on his lips as he glanced down at their hands, and then he looked up at her, catching her dark eyes with his own.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye… ever since I became a soldier I deemed the possibility of falling in love to be something I'd never experience. The very concept of it was always sitting at the edge of my world, always just outside my reach, an impossible extremity. Yet countless times you have proven me wrong... I never thought I would find love – _real_ love – to want to be with someone with whom I would always believe, hope, and endure, through _anything._ I know you'll never truly accept it no matter how many times I tell you… but you are incredible. And I wouldn't be the man standing – or kneeling – here today without you. I've lived through massacres, fought the undying, and it was in those moments that I felt most human, yet _you're_ the only one who makes me feel truly _alive..._ I've been barking orders at others for years but you are the only woman in the world who can render me speechless with a single look. The truth is, when you're with me, I don't know what sort of man I really am, but only the sort of man I want to be. And I want to be with you, for the rest of my life, I want to wake up every day seeing you next to me."

Mustang released her hand and pulled the box from his pocket, his eyes never leaving her own. He opened it and held its content towards her.

"Riza Hawkeye… Will you marry me?"

Riza had to remind herself to breathe.

She forgot that she was at work, in the Fuhrer's office. She forgot that it was Winry's ring glimmering in front of her, and that her previously smirking co-workers were now gazing in disbelieving awe. She had eyes only for one man.

It was just her and Mustang… her and _Roy._

She leapt out of her chair, and his war-enhanced reflexes enabled Roy to stand up in time to catch her.

He couldn't stop himself beaming against her lips as she kissed him full on the mouth, right there in front of a wide-eyed Edward Elric and his dumbstruck subordinates. And he forgot all about them too, pulling her body against his with so much enthusiasm that she was momentarily lifted off her feet. He forgot _everything_ as he tightened his hold around her waist and she ran her fingers through his hair, deepening the kiss.

They didn't even hear the crash against the floor as Feury once again toppled off his chair, or notice Havoc hastily pull out his own notebook without any regard to subtlety.

The two officers only pulled away when they remembered the need for air.

"So it's a yes?" Roy whispered, his forehead resting against Riza's, their noses barely an inch from touching.

"Yes," she breathed.

Hands left her waist, mouths dropped closer to the floor, and a ring was slipped onto a finger.

And only after that did the reality of the display come flooding back to Riza.

This was _Winry's_ ring…

_Ed_ was going to propose...

To _Winry..._

And Roy was _showing_ him-

She averted her eyes from her hand, looking back up at Roy in shock. But he was grinning wildly at Ed.

"And _that,_ Fullmetal, is how it's done."

Riza's feelings of elation and happiness drained away as she snapped out of her stupor, the rational side of her brain screaming at her to take the ring off. She fought the flood of disappointment when she reached for it with her other hand. And she was about to pull when Ed's voice stopped her.

"There's no need to take it off, Lieutenant Colonel."

Riza looked at him in surprise. _He's not seriously suggesting_… She frowned.

"I couldn't do that, Edward." Her voice was surprisingly calm. "It's yours…"

But Ed was shaking his head. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a new box wrapped with a thin line of silver, slightly bigger than the first one. Then he opened it, revealing a gleaming silver ring, and smiled back at her.

Riza gazed down at the ring on her finger, then slowly looked up at Roy who was beaming wider than ever.

"You mean you…?"

He pulled her body against his once again, oblivious to their speechless audience.

"So I was thinking we could change the deal up a little… A week starting tomorrow, you and me. How does that sound?"

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading. Leave a reviewcritique if you have the time (so sorry again, previous reviewers!)**


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